Dell Streak Pro Tablet to Target Biz Users

By CIOinsight |
Posted 05-20-2011

When Dell launches the Streak Pro tablet, which will run Google's Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" operating system, the device will join a long list of media tablets set to roll out during the summer. A number of vendors are looking to get a piece of the growing tablet space currently dominated by Apple's iPad. The challengers to Apple are coming from both the PC world--Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer, for example--and the smartphone space, including BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, Motorola and Samsung.

The new device, reportedly set for commercial availability in June 2011, will be Dell's third tablet, joining the Streak -- which offers a 5-inch screen -- and the 7-inch Streak 7. Earlier reports had Dell's Streak Pro being powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 T2 5 SoC (system on a chip), which among other things is 3D-capable. However, according to a May 19 report in SlashGear, the device will be powered by a slower Nvidia chip, the 1.0GHz Tegra 2 T20, which does not have the 3D capabilities.

The Streak Pro will offer a 1280 x 800 touch screen and weigh 1.59 pounds, according to reports. It will offer models with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flash memory, a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel camera on the front, will include Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, and will come in a number of colors, including black, blue, red and pink.

Despite the Streak Pro's business push, during a May 17 conference call with analysts and journalist to announce his company's earnings, Dell CEO Michael Dell questioned whether tablets would see high adoptions rates in businesses. Dell said that tablets are the third device choice -- after smartphones and PCs -- "and you can't find a lot of companies that are going to have three devices for all of their users ... We're not seeing tablets replacing the smartphone or the PC in large numbers in organizations."